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Third round of Iran-P5+1 negotiation to start in Geneva

Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, known as P5+1, will hold a third round of talks on Tehran's nuclear energy programme in Geneva at 11:00 local time, (10:00 Greenwich time) Iranian state IRINN TV reported.

Iran and the P5+1 group started a new round of talks on Tehran's nuclear energy programme in Geneva yesterday.

Fars News Agency quoted a representative of European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton as saying negotiations with Iran's new negotiating team are being carried out in a very positive atmosphere.

"The EU sees Iran's willingness to negotiate regarding its nuclear programme. The P5+1 group is ready to continue negotiating with Iran until a positive result is reached," the official said.

A source within Iran's delegation said the country's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will remain with the delegation and not leave Geneva until the talks are over.

Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif is leading a high-ranking Iranian delegation of political, technical and legal experts.

The negotiations are reportedly being held behind closed doors with a limited number of people from both negotiating sides.

The U.S. and its Western allies suspect Iran of developing nuclear weapons, something the country denies. The Islamic Republic has on numerous occasions stated that it does not seek to develop nuclear weapons, but uses nuclear energy for medical researches instead.

In 2012, representatives of the P5+1 group and Iran held three rounds of talks in Istanbul (April 14), Baghdad (May 23-24) and Moscow (June18-19). None of these meetings resulted in breakthroughs on disputed nuclear issues. Previously talks between the 'Six Powers' and Iran were not conducted for over a year.